B8625-001: Defining and Developing Winning Strategic Capabilities

Winning companies create value by defining, developing and deploying a set of strategic capabilities that provide a unique competitive advantage. This course focuses on how leading companies build capabilities-driven strategies that allow them to win in the market place using examples such as 3M´s innovation, AB Inbev´s globalization and premiumization of beer brands or Mittal´s steel acquisition and post merger integration capabilities. The objective of the course is to develop an understanding of how to:

- Define a company's strategic capability set. A coherent group of differentiated capabilities that uniquely supports the company's strategy in the products and markets in which it has chosen to compete.

- Develop a capability. Assembling the right combination of processes, knowledge, skills, and organizational fabric that allow the company to deliver consistently on a distinctive capability.

- Deploy a capability across a global enterprise. Being able to both replicate and adapt a specific capability across a related group of businesses and different geographic markets.

The course provides a pragmatic and global perspective. It leverages guest speakers and the instructor´s experience in actual cases to discuss how companies have actually developed strategic capabilities over time, both internally and working with strategy consulting firms. It also explores examples from throughout the world of the types of capabilities that are required to pursue and capture global leadership. For the final project the students (in groups) analyze and present to the class the strategic capability set of a leading company of their choice, explaining how it has enabled it to create value consistently and above its competitors.

Professor Martinez’s current focus is doing research, teaching and advising clients about business strategies to capture and foster growth in emerging markets. He brings over 25 years of consulting experience to Columbia. He also directs an ongoing project at the Wharton School´s Lauder Institute on development patterns in emerging markets and provides strategic advice to leading companies on this topic.
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